James, Wade help Heat even series against Pacers

May 20, 2012 - 11:25 PM
Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - LeBron James didn't want to admit the Heat
were desperate, even if they were.

"That's a strong word," he said.

Facing the prospect of a third straight loss and all the hurlyburly that would
come with it, the Heat were picked up by their two remaining stars and carried
across the finish line for a much-needed win.

Instead of going home in a two-game hole, they'll head back to Miami with some
mojo.

James and Dwyane Wade scored 38 straight points in the middle of Game 4 on
Sunday afternoon and the Heat battled for a 101-93 victory over the Indiana
Pacers to even their Eastern Conference semifinal.

James had 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists while Wade added 30 points,
nine boards and six helpers -- their best performance since Chris Bosh went
down in Game 1.

"They've been through quite a few battles," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of
the two stars. "We went through quite a bit last year. All the series we went
through were highly-competitive, so they understand with one of our main
components out that they have to step up."

James and Wade scored 48-of-50 points for the Heat between the latter stages
of the second quarter and early in the fourth. Udonis Haslem picked up some of
the slack down the stretch, scoring eight of his 14 points in the final
quarter.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Miami.

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points, Darren Collinson had 16 off the
bench, Paul George scored 13 and Roy Hibbert chipped in 10 with nine rebounds.

Hibbert and David West, who scored eight, both played in foul trouble.

The third-seeded Pacers had taken a 2-1 lead in the series after two wins in a
row, including Thursday night's 94-75 rout. And they were on a roll early in
this one.

The Heat, seeded second and the clear favorites to come out of the East with
Chicago gone, trailed by double digits in the first and second quarter before
James and Wade went off.

"We're a complete team. We've handled runs like that all year," said Indiana
coach Frank Vogel. "We tried to handle it, but we didn't handle it enough."

After scoring the last 10 points of the second quarter, James and Wade had the
first 28 of the third for Miami. Wade knocked down a 3 for a 64-63 edge in the
midst of a 17-2 run that turned a 10-point deficit into a five-point lead.

The first points not scored by the two players were Haslem's free throws for a
76-66 lead -- the end of an extended 25-5 Miami run. The Pacers pulled within
76-70 going into the fourth.

James and Wade led Miami to a 30-16 third quarter -- this after the Heat were
outscored by a combined 54-26 in the same period in Games 2 and 3.

"You get the ball out of one of those guys' hands," said Vogel, "and it finds
its way to the other guy."

James rattled the rim on a put-back dunk in the fourth quarter and the Heat
built a nine-point lead inside five minutes. Granger buried a 3 to cut the
deficit to five with 1:35 remaining, but Indiana never got closer.

While James' stats had a bigger impact on the game, it was the re-emergence of
Wade that seemed to flip a switch in Miami. He was coming off a dreadful Game
3 in which he scored just five points -- all in the second half -- on 2-of-13
shooting.

"I just wanted to come out today and affect the game somehow," Wade said
Sunday. "Obviously I knew I was struggling offensively but I didn't want that
to affect my whole game."

The Pacers opened the game on a 9-0 run as it took Miami nearly 4 1/2 minutes
to get its first points on a James dunk.

Mario Chalmers hit back-to-back 3s for the Heat, but Indiana had a 10-point
lead after a Granger 3 and two Tyler Hansbrough free throws after that.

The Pacers took a 25-18 lead into the second quarter, but Miami went ahead for
the first time on Chalmers' reverse layup to make it 30-29 at the end of an
8-0 run.

Indiana replied with a 20-8 burst for an 11-point lead and went to the locker
room ahead 54-46 despite James' 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

In a moment of chippiness before the half, Wade and Granger came face-to-face
after Wade was wrapped up under the basket by Hibbert on a hard foul. Wade
shoved Hibbert's hand away even as it looked like the Pacers center was trying
to hold him up, and Granger seemed to take umbrage.

"This is the epitome of a 2-3 matchup," said Spoelstra. "It's a long series
and right now it's just survival."

Game Notes

The Heat outscored the Pacers 50-32 in the paint and out-rebounded Indiana
47-38...Both teams scored 12 points off the other team's 15 turnovers.